San Francisco Vacation | What You Need To Know

San Francisco Vacation Traveller’s Guide: Accommodations

Let’s face it, San Francisco accommodations are not cheap. If you are looking for Financial District, Fisherman’s Wharf and other upscale locations, a night’s stay can run you anywhere USD$180+. During our San Francisco Vacation we were very particular about our stay. As you do too! We want CLEAN rooms, hot showers, working thermostats, in a safe area where we can go out for a run at night.

We did not want to pay an arm and a leg even after getting some EBATES cash back. If you haven’t heard of EBATES, it is fantastic! EBATES allows you to shop online and receive rebate cash back for your purchases. EBATES works with retailers both Canada and United States, as well as travel sites such as Expedia – up to 5% cash back!. Or you could be shopping on Rose Gold Nike Fuel Band and Nike Air Max 90 for that 6% cash back. After all, doesn’t everyone buy a cute outfit for vacation?

My friend suggests that we try HomeAway and VRBO (sister company of HomeAway. VRBO stays for Vacation Rentals By Owners. There are vacation and travel insurance guarantees up to $10,000 for situations like double-booking, property wrongfully withohlding your security or home you rented being foreclosed! Yikes!

Also, if you have a travel credit card, it is best to pay with that. Your credit card typically has a set of fairly good travel insurances where you can claim in the even of such unfortunate happenings. Plus you can earn some travel points!

Anyways, initially I wanted to stay somewhere within the downtown core, but later decided to stay by the Marina / Cow Hollow area.

It is walkable by Crissy Field where there is a seawall just under the Golden Gates Bridge. Being a Vancourite, this was a mega bonus! Morning runs along the San Francisco seawall is exhilarating! We Run SF! It is also near by San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

We found this cozy studio by the Marina for $145/night. It sleeps 2 and has 1 bath and kitchenette. It had a tiny communal garden. It a tiny round wood patio folding table that is shared with others in the complex. It is not a pet friendly apartment. But I respect that. Some people are allergic to pets. Here are some experiences of our stay.

VRBO PROS

Good price

Relatively clean

Linens and towels provided

Owners are easy to work with

WIFI and phone available

Safe location and new Union / Chestnut streets for shopping and dining

3 part payments

VRBO CONS

Some don’t provide toiletries. Ours did not provide shampoo. That’s ok, we went to Walgreens around the block to buy our own.

Question cleanliness of towels etc given it is not industrial strength laundry facility

Some dusts behind bed and spider webs on lamp above dining table

Poor to no cell reception signals

Public transits: The MUNI pass is not compatible with all transit buses from here

San Francisco Transportation for Travellers

Then the next burning question we had was… Do we rent a car for the full duration of our trip? Or should we just transit by bus or trolley cable cars?

We purchased 3-Day Visitor Passport for $23. San Francisco Tourist please be careful because the Muni Pass does not include all bus transit routes. In the end we ended up paying almost $5 to 8 per person on some Downtown routes. Taxi rides were about $16. Plus, without a car it was much harder to get to cert places and shops.

You are much better off renting a car than taking transit. The time and money wasted simply is not worth it. We do however recommend you try taking the cable car from Powell and Market up to Russian Hill to see the windiest street in San Francisco!

There are many must see San Francisco Tourist Attractions and Must Eat San Francisco restaurants. We have a few to recommend. Stay tune for our next article on San Francisco Vacation Traveler’s Guide: Tourist Attractions and San Francisco Vacation Traveler’s Guide: SF Must Eat Restaurants.

Pin the above image to your wanderlust / travel board to bookmark this page. We are so excited to share our adventures with you! If you are curious about Montreal, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Mexico, stay tuned!

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Meet Nancy

Nancy is a finance professional by trade and has an eye for passion.
She is the writer, stylist, photographer and foodie based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
This new Mommy also runs a Baby / Lifestyle Blog Hello Nance .
Her work has been featured on SELF Magazine, ClassPass, National Post, Yellow Pages, Groupon, and SocialShoppers.